


Bad Day

by deadly_poison



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: (not much more than in canon tho), Abuse, Gen, One Shot, spoilers for the newest steven bomb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 16:19:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9499844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadly_poison/pseuds/deadly_poison
Summary: Why does that Amethyst have a chipped tooth?





	

Holly Blue was in a bad mood, so, as usual, every Gem employed at the human zoo had to tiptoe around her. This alone made her more anxious than usual.  
Then, she noticed her shift had just ended and that she was supposed to be in front of the spaceship-docking area in two minutes, and became even more anxious.  
To run or to be late, that was the question.  
She considered which one would have made Holly Blue madder. Being late, definitely. So, she started running.

  
  
Suddenly she heard a sound coming from somewhere in the corridor. She turned around to check if there was somebody behind her.  
Nobody was, but, unluckily for her, something was in front of her: she ran straight into a closed door, and, well, it was a tie. Her forehead hurt, but the door didn’t look fine either. It had a pretty noticeable bulge in the spot she had just slammed into.  
_Stars, why today…_ she thought, while trying to open the door with trembling hands. With the door open, the damaged area would at least be out of sight. Sure, Holly Blue would still notice eventually, but maybe she would notice it on a less bad day. She heard an ominous sound.  
The door didn’t fully open. It couldn’t, the bulge was too big.  
She panicked so much she felt dizzy. She felt so dizzy she started wondering whether it was possible for a Gem to puke.  
She took another route, still running on her now shaky legs, still managing to be only a little bit late.  
She awkwardly greeted the other Amethyst guard, who was already standing at her side of the door.

  
  
Just when she thought she had gotten away with it, she heard a horrified shriek from inside the corridor.  
“Which one of you did it?” Holly Blue yelled, storming into the spaceship docking area.  
She’d never seen Holly Blue look so angry. She hesitated.  
She could feel the Amethyst next to her start to panic. She couldn’t betray her like that.  
“I suppose I’ll have to punish you both, then,” she huffed, starting to pull out her whip.  
“… I did it.” She could feel the tears pricking behind her eyes. “I broke the door.”  
The Agate inched closer to her, whip crackling. The Amethyst started to blurt out multiple apologies, even if she was perfectly aware this would hardly have made a difference.  
“Is this how you honor the memory of the Gem who gave you life? By damaging something she had picked out herself?”  
She managed to mutter a very shaky ‘no’. The other Amethyst looked at her, horrified but unmoving.  
“Don’t. MUMBLE.”  
Out of sheer survival instinct, she regained some of sort of control over her body and got her arms to form the diamond salute.  
“No,” she repeated.  
Holly Blue nodded, a scowl plastered on her face.  
“That door is worth much more than you are, you Earth garbage.”  
She knew that tone. She closed her eyes, waiting for the other Gem to strike her with her whip.

Instead, it was a hand that hit her. Still, the strength of the slap was enough to make her lose balance and fall down.  
Her left cheek felt burning hot. She brought a hand to her face.  
“Ugh, some days I can’t understand why Blue Diamond keeps you in service.”  
She tried to say something, some sounds came out, but she couldn’t calm herself enough to talk properly. Then, she realized Holly Blue was staring at her mouth, eyes wide.  
Holly had broken some of her teeth, she could feel it with her tongue. Whether it was one or two, she couldn’t tell.  
She dared to look at Holly Blue's face for a moment. She looked… confused?  
Holly Blue was very methodical when it came to corporal punishment, she never did something she didn’t fully intend to do.  
Every blow she delivered was calculated and planned… but she hadn’t been in control when she slapped her. That loss of self-control had been enough to put her supervisor at a loss for words.  
Holly Blue’s eyes darted between her and the other Amethyst.  
“Ugh, see how you make me be?” she looked down at her with disgust.  
“Get out of my sight this instant!” she continued, while pointing towards their break room. “And see that I don't have to look at your face for a very long while.”  
She started walking, but Holly Blue shouted again, startling her.  
“Both of you!”  
They both nodded. This time, the other Amethyst followed her.

As soon as she was sure Holly Blue was far enough away, she let out a sob.  
“… Are you okay?” her colleague timidly asked. Oh, now she was speaking?  
“Don’t talk to me,” she hissed. What was the use of talking _now,_ when she had not spoken up for her earlier?  
They left in silence, the other Amethyst visibly resisting the impulse to say something.

 

They quietly stepped into the room. It was full of Amethysts, as usual, and they were all staring at her. Information traveled fast in such a tiny outpost. Someone must’ve been just out of sight – but not earshot – while the whole thing was happening. Ignoring the stares, she walked into her cubby-hole and sat down in it, with her back turned towards the others.  
Outside, the other Amethysts were whispering among themselves. “Holly Blue” and “slap” were the two most frequently uttered words.  
She put her hands against her ears. She didn’t want attention, she just wanted to be left alone.  
Suddenly, they went quiet. After a few seconds, she understood why: footsteps were approaching, and they didn’t sound like an Amethyst’s footsteps.  
She tensed up. _Please don’t come in, please don’t come in…_  
The sound of Holly Blue’s footsteps became fainter and fainter. When it was clear that she wasn’t going to come in, she felt so relieved she started crying.  
Between the sobs, she noticed that another Amethyst had crawled into her cubby. She recognized her, she was the one who was with her when _that_ happened.  
She was still a bit mad at her, but she recognized she probably would have done the same thing.  
“Next time, tell her it was me. You deserve a little break. 'Sides, she can't tell us apart anyways,” she chuckled.  
She so wanted to reply that no, it wasn’t necessary! She could handle a little slap once in a while! The Betas had it worse, she should really just focus on helping them.  
But she couldn’t find the courage to. Plus, every time she opened her mouth, only sobs would come out. So she just nodded and kept crying.

**Author's Note:**

> [Usual disclaimer, English is not my first language, so if you see any grammar/spelling mistakes it's probably because of that ^^]


End file.
